Tahlequah, Okla. – The Southwest Baptist University men’s basketball team fell on the road to Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon 90-80. With the loss, SBU falls to 8-10 (3-9 MIAA) on the season.
The Bearcats took the lead early in the opening minutes of the contest after a layup from Kalehl Brown followed by a three from Kai Woodfall gave the Bearcats a 5-2 lead with 18:29 left in the first half. After another Brown layup, SBU held a 9-5 lead with 15:18 left before NSU came back on a 9-2 run as SBU trailed 14-11. The Bearcats responded with a three from Cartier Dean, but would extend their lead to 23-15 with 9:38 left in the first half. SBU started to fight back, using a 9-2 run to pull within one at 25-24 after Brown finished off an old-fashioned three point play with 6:12 remaining in the first half. A Dean layup with 4:40 left in the half tied the game at 30-30, and after falling behind 37-34 with 2:28 left in the half the Bearcats closed out the half on a 9-1 run to take a 43-38 advantage into the break.
Coming out of halftime NSU used an 8-2 run to regain the lead, as the Bearcats trailed 46-45 with 17:35 remaining. Four straight free throws from the Bearcats gave SBU a 49-46 lead, and after NSU tied the game at 51-51, Dean connected on another three to give SBU a 54-51 lead with 14:11 left. NSU responded with an 11-0 run, as SBU trailed 61-54 with 12:43 remaining. After holding even with NSU for a majority of the game, the Bearcats were unable to pull the game closer than six points as SBU would fall 90-80.
Logan Hovey led the way offensively for the Bearcats with a game high 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field. Cartier Dean chipped in a career high 17 points off of the bench, while Kai Woodfall added 16 points and Brian Patterson 11. As a team SBU shot 59.1% from the field, 50.0% from beyond the arc, and 71.4% from the free throw line.
The Bearcats will return home on Thursday, January 28 when they host Emporia State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.
